Try Something New

One idea that I’ve heard is that there are two ways to learn things: education and experience (or book learning and doing).

Education is great because it builds your knowledge base from which you can act and change. But there comes a point when more education doesn’t make much of a difference – you won’t become great at driving just by reading road rules and your car’s manual.

Experience, however, teaches you in a different way. By doing something, you become actively engaged. You pick up on things that you might miss when reading paragraphs and paragraphs from a text book.

Many people, however, are scared to try new things. I’m not talking about a new drink from a bar or the latest fashion accessories: I’m talking about life experiences. Experiences which can teach you new things about the world and about yourself.

Have you:

  • Been sky diving?
  • Given other styles of music a proper listen?
  • Shaved your head?
  • Learnt to knit?
  • Lived in another country?
  • Acted in a film?
  • Been in a karaoke competition?
  • Built a web site?
  • Ridden a motorcycle?
  • Volunteered?
  • Travelled to countries that other people you know don’t normally go to?
  • Learnt another language?
  • Learnt to draw or paint?
  • Built a table?
  • Done any welding?
  • Eaten non-breakfast food for breakfast?
  • Slept on the floor?
  • Tried different sports?
  • Sold everything you own?
  • Tried stand up comedy?
  • Created a business?
  • Built a wall?
  • Driven a bus?
  • Kept embarrassing photos up online?
  • Had your body used for scientific research?
  • Danced in public in broad daylight?

I’m sure you can think of plenty more…

New experiences give you new ideas to draw from and new stories to tell. I couldn’t think of a life more boring than doing the same thing day in day out. And if the “worst” happens and you have a bad experience, you’ve still learnt something.

Like they say, variety is the spice of life.

Try something new.

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